Upgrade Your Workers’ Skills with the Customized Training Program

Program Overview

The Customized Training program was established in 1992 and is a powerful economic development tool designed to create and retain high-skill, high-wage private sector jobs in New Jersey as a means to ensure a productive, globally competitive workforce. While manufacturing remains a targeted industry for assistance through Customized Training, other industry sectors that demonstrate significant job growth or are facing critical retention issues will be considered.

In today’s economy, trained and effective workers can mean the difference between a competitive business and an extinct business. The Customized Training initiative is a component of the Workforce Development Partnership program and is funded by a small allocation from employers and workers.

Our Customized Training Office can help employers tailor training programs that improve their workers’ production capabilities and their bottom line.

The office can:

· Offer financial incentives for worker training to help create new jobs or retain jobs in New Jersey.
· Assist companies in becoming more competitive in the domestic and international markets.
· Recommend skills training programs and customize them to provide maximum benefit to the businesses.
· Provide training grants for occupational safety and health training.
· Provide training grants for basic literacy skills including English as a second language.
· Be a liaison with other state agencies that promote job retention or expansion.

Eligibility

Potential eligible applicants for a Customized Training grant include:

· Individual employers.
· An employer organization, labor organization or community-based organization.
· A consortium comprising one or more educational institutions and one or more individual employers or labor, employer or community-based organizations that seek to address common training needs in demand occupations within a particular industry.

Literacy/Basic Skills Program Overview:

This program provides funding for basic skills training to qualified displaced, disadvantaged, and employed workers. The intent of the program is to improve worker skills and assist New Jersey businesses to create new jobs, prevent the loss of jobs, offset competition from competing states and/or economic regions, provide cost efficiency, and provide opportunity for career and economic advancement to New Jersey’s labor force.

Examples of basic skills are reading comprehension, basic math, basic computer literacy, English proficiency, and work-readiness skills.

Potential eligible applicants for a Basic Skills grant include:

· An individual New Jersey employer.
· An employer organization, labor organization, community-based organization, or a consortium made up of one or more educational or training institutions seeking basic skills training assistance to upgrade the job-related literacy skills of their current employees or potential employees.
· Basic Skills Services are also available through individual applications or consortium applications for qualified displaced and/or disadvantaged workers, as long as there is a written commitment from an employer(s) leading to future employment.

For Customized Training and Literacy programs information call (609) 292-2239 or write to:

New Jersey Department of Labor
Office of Customized Training
P.O. Box 933
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0933

Attachments

Customized Training Individual Employer Application
Customized Training Consortium Application
Basic Literacy Skills Application
Customer Satisfaction Survey